The August 2015 state of the blog post has quite a bunch to say. I’ve got a brand-new look, a simpler address, and plenty of blog news to discuss. I saw some great movies this month, and have a great deal upcoming that I want to tell you about, so let’s get to it.

First things’ first: there’s a new look to Plot and Theme, and my very own url, to boot! In an effort to make the site a little more easy on the eyes, I have organized the front page into a grid of multiple posts – each with its own preview and image. In addition, the site menu is now much more visible at the top of each page, and the bottom of the front page contains some fancy little widgets, so check those out. The individual posts now feature a sidebar with easily navigable archives, either month-by-month, or by post type. There are still easily-clickable share buttons, so click the Hell out of those if you enjoy something and want to show it to other people. I’ve also made leaving comments the easiest thing in the world – you don’t have to sign in, sign up, or anything. Just click and start showering a post with praise or vitriol to your heart’s content. The images have changed slightly, but still feature 2001: A Space Odyssey, so hopefully it still feels familiar.

As for this past month, it is clear that I was less productive than I had hoped, but there are some reasons for that. I published only 12 posts, but it is worth pointing out that I basically took the last week off to attend a professional conference. In addition, this past month saw the best readership numbers in the blog’s nascent history with over 2500 site views. Also, it isn’t like I was just not writing, as I have been working feverishly on two posts I promised during last month’s State of the Blog. These are the United 93 piece, and the Disney Animation retrospective. Both are written and in various stages of editing, but you can expect the first part of the Disney piece sometime in the next week, as I have decided to break that post into its seven parts for ease of readability. The United 93 piece needs a little more work, but it should finally see the light of day during the month of August.

As for reviews, I have so many in the queue that I am beginning to fear that I will have to abandon some, though I will endeavor to post about all of them. This last month, I have racked up Amy, Tig, It Follows, Kumiko the Treasure Hunter and Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation as films that I would like to review, plus I have yet to see Trainwreck but will soon. Reviews for these films should start appearing in the next few days, as I really need to get them out there before the list grows.

There are some interesting films releasing in August that I plan to see and review, but on the whole this month feels like a bit of a calm period before the end-of-the-year storm descends upon us. The biggest release is probably either The Fantastic Four or American Ultra, but there are a number of interesting flicks flying under the radar. The Gift has looked utterly stupid since its first trailer was released, but all early reviews are overwhelmingly positive, so it might be worth looking into next week. Ricky and The Flash stars Meryl Streep and was written by Diablo Cody, so there is a strong possibility that it will stand out. More limited releases like Cop Car and Diary of a Teenage Girl finally debut to non-film festival audience, so if I can find a theatre showing them in my area I will likely give them a chance as well.

This time, I am actually serious about reviewing older films, and I have realized that the only way I can make it happen is to have a dedicated plan to review older films, so that is what I am going to do. I will start slow, with one older film per week which will likely appear each Friday. Expect half to focus on relatively well-known classics, and the other half to identify hidden gems that I think are often overlooked. For this first month I will simply write on whatever films in which I am interested, but in the future I plan to follow particular themes (focusing on a particular actor, director, genre, or whatever). So, if there are any particular themes or films that interest you, please let me know in the comments section and I can start thinking about how to organize these in the future.

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Published by Derek Jacobs

I am a molecular biologist who loves movies and wants to think about them and discuss them from the perspective of romantic realism, a reason-based school of aesthetics championed by novelist-philosopher Ayn Rand.
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